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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Getting in the flow (of yoga)

I started off yoga in a very anatomy/alignment based, no-flow Iyengar class. I was hooked. My teacher was...not as understanding of anatomical obstacles as I found out she should have been or could have been. With my tight shoulders and lats, she'd put a belt around my arms in Down Dog and a blanket under my arms when we were lying in Corpse pose with our hands stretched overhead. Her advice for my upper body limitations: a flatter pillow at night and practicing Down Dog for 5 minutes at a time. I loved her because she taught me the basics of alignment that I really haven't gotten as in-depth since. I loved her because she is who ultimately made me go looking for more yoga (the class was only once a week) and closer to work (I had to travel 45 minutes to get there).

Enter Darling Yoga. Initially I got a two week pass. Went about everyday until the pass was up. And then nothing. I decided I couldn't afford it or thought, how I could possibly fit yoga into my schedule like that. And all the bad things that yoga was "curing" in mesciatica, muscle spasticity (thanks MS! you're the best!), and just general aches and pains from sitting at the computer all daycame back. Not to mention I was weaker and felt unhealthy.

So I made the decision. It was do or dieor rather kill this body that's a ticking time bomb. I bought a yearly unlimited pass. It was the best thing I ever did in my life, next to marrying my husband.

Flow was new to me. And forget about breathing. I didn't understand "on an inhale, look up, exhale fold." I was huffing and puffing like a train, until one day, something happened. I started focusing on my breath instead of the pose. (One of my favorite teachers always says: Hold the pose, not your breath.)

For me yoga is happening in phases: 1. Alignment, 2. Learning the asanas and flowing, and 3. Breathing. I would say the phase I'm in right now is Going Outside My Comfort Zone and Practicing Crazy Beautiful Poses Incorporated with Flow.